Serendipity
by TTY7
Summary: "All his life, since the moment he killed his father, Suzaku had carried a monster inside of him, one that fed on his guilt and amplified his self-hatred." Suzaku/Euphie centric one-shot. Inspired by the song Serendipity by BTS' Park Jimin.


A/N: I'm not sure what it is about BTS songs lately, but they are really inspiring me to write. It's like they've become my muse. And if you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, BTS is a super talented K-Pop group that I highly recommend you guys take a listen to...starting with the song that inspired this one-shot, Serendipity by BTS member Park Jimin. It is a really, really lovely song.

Although ultimately what inspired it was the lyric about a cat...and that made me think of Arthur...which eventually spiraled into what I wrote.

Also, since the time I wrote this...which was about two weeks ago...BTS has released their new album entitled Love Yourself: Her. It is their first mini-album in the Love Yourself series, and as a music junkie I can tell you that the album is fantastic with Serendipity being one of the best tracks.

Now for an actual note about what's written below.

This story takes place...sometime after Code Geass R2 with maybe an alternate ending to what happened at the end. Not sure. To be honest I didn't think too much about that while writing this particular piece, as I was trying to mainly capture a certain feeling. It is essentially a story built around a song, so the plot isn't really a concern of mine with this one. Anyway, I hope you guys will enjoy what I came up with.

Disclaimer: Code Geass belongs respectively to Sunrise, Goro Taniguchi and Ichirou Ohkouchi. This story is written for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

 _Serendipity_

Suzaku Kururugi stumbled backward as he blinked, his emerald irises focusing in on his reflection in a circular mirror, which had appeared quite suddenly, and randomly, in the blank canvas setting that surrounded him.

Everything except the mirror and the glass ceiling above him was colored white. White walls, white floors. He almost couldn't stand it.

Confusion was the most prominent emotion twisting Suzaku's expression as he studied the environment reflected in the glass, but he also noted disgust hidden behind the bewilderment when he caught a glimpse of his face.

All his life, since the moment he killed his father, Suzaku had carried a monster inside of him, one that fed on his guilt and amplified his self-hatred, so whenever the Japanese youth found himself in front of a mirror, he kept his gaze downcast and focused on the tasks he needed to take care of in those moments, whether it be brushing his teeth or running a comb through his wild, chestnut-colored hair.

However, in these slow seconds steadily ticking by, he found himself watching his expression more closely than normal. Something about him seemed different, but he couldn't put his finger on what. It was unnerving to say the least.

A silhouette began to approach from behind him, igniting an instinct to turn and face the possible adversary, but shock quickly prevented such movements when a set of pale arms wrapped around his torso, gently pulling him backward. For a few seconds he became rigid, the embrace a familiar comfort he hadn't realized he'd been craving.

With a shaky exhale he finally shifted his gaze to the other person captured in the mirror. A beautiful woman with flowing locks the color of cotton candy stood behind him wearing a bright yellow sundress. He blinked down at her, watching in stunned silence while she leaned her head against his shoulder blade. Her eyelids fluttered soon afterward, then opened to reveal beautiful pools of a faded blue, or perhaps it was lavender. Suzaku wasn't sure, only that something in those eyes reminded him of a deep happiness and a deeper sorrow.

" _What's going on?"_ He wondered this just as something rubbed against his ankle. Puzzled, he looked down to find a black cat practically throwing its head into his leg as it purred.

Though it took him a moment due to something clouding his memory, recollection hit him the second he felt teeth sinking into his ankle.

"Ouch! Arthur!"

"Meow!"

The woman with him giggled, her body shaking against his before she slowly removed herself from around him. He watched her in the mirror, smiling softly as she spun in circles like a little child with Arthur following along behind her. She was a blazing ribbon of color in the sterile world he had created in his mind to block out the pain. For years he had been privy to distancing himself from emotion, but now it overwhelmed him, just as it had all those years ago.

Closing his eyes, he let the memories return to him. In flashes he saw a beautiful princess falling from a window, then he saw an image of himself walking with her, laughing as they traveled about the Tokyo Settlement. He remembered the kindness she extended his way, sending him off to school where he could be a normal teenage boy for a couple hours before his work with the Britannian military brought him back to reality. He remembered kneeling before her, accepting her trust in him as she made him a knight, her knight.

The Geass Lelouch cursed him with on Shikine Island caused him to betray that trust.

He told her the truth of his past, revealed to her the monster lurking within the darkest place in his heart as a way to say goodbye.

She told him she loved him a few days later, and once again he resolved to stand beside the princess as a knight, knowing with certainty that the Specially Administrated Zone of Japan would be the first step in making a world where the two of them could be together without opposition. It would be a place where the people oppressed by the ruthless system of Britannia could live in peace.

That was the dream.

Zero turned it into a nightmare.

Every memory of that time came back to Suzaku in a rush of screams and gunfire. He stumbled again, his legs about ready to give out beneath him as a sea of anguish washed over him, burying him in a purgatory of his own making.

A soft touch against his palm pulled him out of the abyss.

"Suzaku, please look at me."

The Japanese knight reacted immediately, his eyes opening to meet her gaze in the mirror in front of them.

"No, Suzaku. Turn around. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere. Look at me."

He wanted to obey her soft command, but found himself unable to move.

" _What if I turn around and she's not really there? This is all just a dream, right? Any second now it could become a nightmare. Any second now and I'll see Lelouch shoot her all over again...I'll watch her die all over again..."_

She gripped his hand a little more tightly to reassure him, almost as if she knew exactly what he was thinking about.

"Please, Suzaku..."

Her breathy whisper in his ear finally prompted his body to respond. Though it was a slow, unsteady movement, he turned to face her, half-expecting to find air behind him...a vacant space where she had been but no longer was.

But to his astonishment, he found her standing there, looking far more beautiful than a mere reflection of her could do justice to.

"Eu-Euphie...?"

His lips trembled when he said her name.

Euphemia Li Britannia stared back at him, her gorgeous eyes glassy with unshed tears despite the smile on her face. With a soft inhale she reached up with both hands to gently cup his face in her palms.

"I'm here," she told him, her voice breaking a little. "I'm always here, Suzaku. I never left your side and I never will."

Suzaku kept his gaze on her face, taking all of it in while emotions of happiness and grief took hold on him. This was definitely a dream. He was aware of it now, but he would hold on to it for as long as he could. He'd hold on to his princess for as long God allowed him to. Whether he believed in such a being or not was irrelevant at the moment. He only knew that something had intervened to, in some way, heal the persistent ache in his heart.

And so, without warning, the soldier fell to his knees, dragging Euphemia down with him as tears sprang to his eyes. The kindhearted princess wrapped her arms around his head, bringing him closer. He rested against her chest, crying silently until a few sobs broke through, and when those sobs did break through, Euphemia held him tighter, shedding her own tears while telling him over and over that she had never left him. She told him about things in his life she hadn't actually been there for, whispered her longing to be by his side in the way he had wanted so desperately when she'd been alive, kissed his forehead, and wiped the tears from his eyes a little bit at a time.

Throughout this process, Suzaku remained in darkness, his eyes squeezed shut in an effort to hold the tears back, but they seeped through anyway to stain the front of her dress.

"I'm sorry," he rasped out after a while, having calmed down thanks to the warmth of Euphemia's presence. He opened his eyes then but kept his gaze downcast. "I'm sorry...I wasn't there. I didn't protect you. I didn't save you."

After he spoke those words she pulled away, holding him at arm's length. "Suzaku, there was nothing you could have done. Please, stop blaming yourself for what happened to me."

"But I..."

"Suzaku, it wasn't your fault. None of it was. You aren't to blame."

He hung his head further. "How can you say that?"

"Because it's the truth," Euphie replied, her gaze softening. Bringing her right hand to his face again, she guided him to look at her. "You've made mistakes that's true, but there's always a chance for redemption, Suzaku. That's something you have to understand to move on, to truly be happy."

Suzaku's eyes drifted away from her. "I don't deserve happiness."

Euphie simply sighed then leaned her forehead against his.

"My memory shouldn't weigh you down. Regardless of how it ended, our time together should make you smile. I want you to smile, Suzaku."

He felt tears gathering in the corners of his eyes again. "Why?"

"Because I love you silly. What other reason do I need?"

And with those simple words, Suzaku's mental landscape transformed.

The drastic change caused him to blink in shock as he rose slowly from the ground. His emerald gaze was temporarily transfixed by the immaculate view just a distance before him, a view he hadn't known was even there until that very moment. Euphie stood along with him after a few seconds, grasping his hand as the sterile, white walls around them unfolded then fell completely, throwing them to the elements of a warm, tropical environment.

Silently, she guided him forward along the sand beneath their bare feet. A pleasant breeze passed over them, bringing a freshness to the air as sounds from the ocean filled their ears.

"How...?"

Suzaku's question trailed off, fading into the loud squawking of seagulls above them. Looking toward the sky, he watched the birds fly for a few seconds, then turned his attention on Euphie once more. She was smiling, her eyes closed and arms outstretched as if to welcome the breeze into her pores.

"This is who you really are, Suzaku. This is the man I fell in love with."

A look of pure confusion greeted her when she opened one of her eyes to peek over at him. A fit of giggles immediately pooled out of her mouth in response. Suzaku probably would have joined her, but his mind was a bit preoccupied with trying to understand the outright bizarre thing she had said to him.

"So...I'm a deserted island? You love me because I'm...exotic?"

Euphie's giggles intensified and soon transformed into full blown laughter. "No! That's not why! Hahahaha! Oh, you silly goose you."

"Well, can you explain? I'm kinda confused here."

"Oh, it's so simple, Suzaku," Euphie answered, her laughter abruptly ceasing. "This place is a representation of the things that make you, you. That blank area where we were...that represented your guilt and how it literally robs your world of life and color."

"Really?"

She nodded, another soft laugh escaping her before she continued her explanation, saying, "This place represents you when your heart is full. It's the purest part of you and shows the most of who you are."

Suzaku wasn't sure how to respond that. " _A place this beautiful couldn't possibly..."_

"You're warm and kindhearted," came her soft whisper, interrupting his thoughts. "When you love it runs deep like that ocean over there, and you provide your strength to whoever needs it just as those palm trees provide shade to whoever happens to lay down under its leaves. It doesn't matter to you if the service you provide yeilds any thanks or rewards. You simply want everyone to live in peace, for the fighting to stop, and for love to outweigh hatred."

Suzaku drew closer to her then, his heart beginning to race. "Euphie...I...how...?"

Their fingers intertwined seamlessly as she took another step closer to him.

Once they were but a breath apart from one another, she whispered, "Because our hearts once longed for the same things. You and I wanted a gentler world. We wanted to create a place where nothing could tear us apart."

"But in the end the war...no, Lelouch's Geass tore us..."

She stopped him from saying more with an index finger pressed against his lips. "That's not true. I told you before, I never left your side and I never will. There may be a barrier between us for now, but someday we'll be together like this again. Until then, carry me with you inside your heart and think back on our memories together with fondness rather than regret. Our time together wasn't a mistake. Loving you was the best decision of my life. It made me a better person."

"It did?" he asked. "But how? You were already..."

"You made me strong. It's because you loved me that I learned how to love myself."

The breeze picked up suddenly, causing Euphemia's hair to wave about violently. The long locks danced around them, blocking out their vision of the dream world they were standing in.

It was in this moment, while breathing in her sweet scent, that he spoke words he had longed to say when she was alive, but never did.

"I love you, Euphemia Li Britannia."

Closing his eyes he kissed her, weaving one of his hands through her hair while keeping the other locked in her grasp until she removed it to wrap her arms around his neck. He used his newly freed hand to pull her closer to him as they parted briefly to stare into each other's eyes. Euphemia was crying now, and from those tears, Suzaku realized their time together was running out.

"I love you so much," he told her again, kissing her with a little more force to better taste the sweetness of her lips. She returned that force in kind, practically melting into his embrace.

"I'll always love you," he breathed when they broke apart again. "Always."

"I'll always love you too," she told him, the tears falling much more freely now as the wind subsided, finally revealing the darkness that had consumed the world around him. Startled by it, Suzaku looked up at the sky, his heart leaping in awe when his gaze caught hundreds of shooting starts flying over an endlessly starlit sky. He followed their path through the void of space, smiling when he saw the full moon sitting perfectly over the horizon behind the rolling waves of the ocean.

"Wow...Euphemia this is..." he shifted his gaze to his right where she had just been...

But he found the spot empty of her presence.

His princess was gone.

And yet, his heart didn't break as much as he thought it should have, which prompted a small bit of guilt until he remembered Euphie's words to him. Being sad for her loss would only cause her pain now. She wished for his happiness, and as hard as it would be, he would honor that request.

As her knight, he really didn't have a choice in the matter.

* * *

Sharp teeth sinking into his toes woke him at 6:00 a.m. on the dot.

"Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! ARTHUR!"

"MEOW!"

After ten minutes of hobbling around in an attempt to chase the deranged cat around his room, Suzaku sat down at the foot of his bed, a bottle of peroxide in one hand and a box of Band-Aids in the other. One of these days he was going to murder that cat.

The memory of the time he spent with Euphemia in his dreams was vague at best now, for he only remembered snippets of what she told him. Even so, something inside of him felt lighter today than it had in years.

Much of that guilt from the past would remain, but...from now on he would try to move forward. He would make an attempt to be happy and to accept love.

Once through nursing his aching toes, Suzaku slowly walked to his nightstand and opened it, revealing his handgun, headache medication, and a small, red velvet box. Reaching inside, he withdrew the box and flipped it open.

Out in the real world, he had unexpectedly fallen in love again.

And truly, he loved this woman, but that old guilt from the past had been holding him back. He was uncertain if he could be what she deserved. He was broken in so many ways, and it would take most of the rest of his life to patch up the open wounds leaking blood into nearly every aspect of his life.

Of course, she had told him over and over that she could handle the burden of his past and the woes of their present. She had lived through plenty of those woes herself and still carried plenty of scars and mental hang-ups despite the years that had gone by.

It's because of this that he thinks maybe she understands the darkness within him better than even Euphemia did.

This woman, the one he had slowly fallen for in the wake of his most personal of tragedies, would stand alongside him and work with him to help make a future worth living for.

Because curse or no curse...he had to live.

Smiling down at the glimmering diamond, Suzaku let out another grunt of pain as Arthur saw fit to bite his left ankle. "Arthur. Stop. I have to get ready." He snapped the box shut, setting it on top of the nightstand before wobbling toward the bathroom. "Today is an important day, probably one of the most important in my life."

"Meow?"

"Yep. I think it's time. If I wait to ask her for too much longer she might leave me, and then you'll be stuck with just me forever."

"Meow!"

"I know. I know." Suzaku laughed, aware that he was having a conversation with a cat. "Bad enough we have to be in each other's company in the first place, but please, Arthur, behave today. For me?"

"Meow. Meow."

"Okay...for her?"

"Meow."

"Good. It's settled then. There'll be extra food in your bowl tonight."

"MEOW!"

* * *

A/N: Honestly my favorite thing about this entire story is Suzaku's attempt to reason with Arthur. Oh, me and my fixation with those delightful little fur balls known as cats. Anyway, thank you guys for reading. I appreciate it. And if you noticed any major grammatical errors up there or just have some general constructive criticism, that is welcome. This one didn't flow as easily as the other BTS music themed story I did, mainly because it's been a while since I've written anything Code Geass related, but hopefully it's still pretty good. I may come back and edit it some more at a later date, but on a whole I like how this turned out.

Secondary end note: Also, as for the lady Suzaku is proposing to, I'll leave that up to you to decide.

One more thing: Special thanks to Super Vegito 2, my beta reader, for looking over this for me. I appreciate it my friend. Thanks!


End file.
